Sunday, May 26, 2013

The Time Has Come!

And I'm not sure I've ever started working on my Dragon*Con costume this early.


Deciding on a costume for this year was hard. I haven't played any new games or seen any new shows that I would want to pull an outfit from.

So I reminded myself of something that I've wanted to make for a long time.

Each year I am so envious of all of the gorgeous Steampunk costumes everyone has. They're so detailed and amazing. It would be so fun to build an intricate costume like that.

But I don't have much exposure to Steampunk things outside of Dragon*Con. I don't read many comics or books or watch shows that have any sort of characters or styles that I could pull from. Especially those that are meaningful in anyway to me.

So I'm doing what any true Con-goer should:
Make a Steampunk version of something that's not Steampunk.

And I chose a Pokemon trainer.

Most definitely something that I can pull from life experiences.

Fabric swatches and a bunch of awesome buckles.

So we're starting off with a pretty sweet color scheme. I'm trying to keep it bright and cheerful, with a little bit of contrast in some of the darker [faux] leather accents.
I've got yellow as the focal point, backed up with white and grey and tan.

Pokemon screenshots contain a lot of red, blue, green and yellow. Red is one that I'm still contemplating trying to add. 

It's weird finding a balance between a style that's mainly brown, and a style that's mainly primary colors.


First Things First: I was going to work on the actual clothing first, since it's very finicky and I'm not super good at it yet, but the fabrics I want are not in stock and will take 2 weeks to get in.

So... New First Things First: I still need to have an awesome leg holster full of pockets and things. 

Bag minus interesting and finishing details
There was supposed to be a place for a Pokedex, but I got so caught up with the need to carry various Con necessities that I forgot about it. 

But my bags so far are pretty awesome. Now I just have to attach them to my body.

I do wish that my fabric wasn't so shiny. I wanted everything to be very matte and very solid, but this was the only fabric I could find at my lovely local fabric store that had both the texture and the color I wanted. And I already had some of it from last year to get me started.

And I've made most of my bags with it already.

Once I buy a little more fabric and a few more buckles, I'll be able to finish this thing!